Interview with Brian Six of B.A. Comedian

By WitOut, on May 20th, 2013

by Chris Dolan

Brian Six is a member of the B.A. Comedian comedy group (Six plus Dan King, Andrew Sposato and Tim Raymus). Along with Philly comic Jess Carpenter, they have taken the former R Open Mic and relaunched it as Comedy Under the Disco Ball at L2 Restaurant & Bar, 2201 South Street.

I spoke with Brian Six at their one-month anniversary open mic at L2 to talk about the new location and other B.A. Comedian projects.

Chris Dolan: Talk about the new space at L2 – how did you decide on it?

Brian Six: We came to this one because my roommate, who’s a bartender, was coming here on Sunday nights for reggae night. He was talking to Nate, the L2 owner, who expressed some interest in comedy. Then I talked to Nate and I was obviously blown back a little [looking at the room] cause I was like ‘This is different…” But we were on the same page.

When we were at RBar, we had an idea of our show, and they had their own ideas about our show. L2 seemed like a better fit for us. So we came here, and the transition’s been really smooth. It’s going great. The space is bigger….

CD: You got a couch.

BS: Yeah, we got a couch. The bathrooms are bigger.

CD: I swear to God, last time I was here I didn’t get up off that red chair [a very comfy IKEA ‘Poang’ model adjacent to the couch] until I had to perform.

BS: The only difference is [as of now] there’s no stage here. But we’re making one.

CD: But you have a disco ball.

BS: Exactly.

CD: Anything else stand out about the room?

BS: Well, there’s the floor.you called it something…

CD: I can’t recall, it was a Mayor McCheese joke [Note: the floor looks like its colors were pulled directly from the color palette of original McDonald’s restaurants].

CD: Who was involved in the transition?

BS: I came up here, Dan King came with me. And all of us said ‘yup’. It’s a different room. We like it cause it’s unique, so we can have some fun with it. The location’s great; we have a lot more walk-through traffic than at RBar. Every comic has been really positive about it. Nate has been nothing but supportive in terms of advertising and helping us out. We feel like we’re gonna be here a long time.

CD: How did Jess Carpenter get involved?

BS: We brought Jess Carpenter in at RBar cause he had ideas for shows and he’s been [running shows] a lot longer. Comedian Deconstruction, Not Just Comedy…so we brought Jess in and he’s been only positive for the show, and the boys of BA Comedian have been all on board with Jess.

BS: What happened was Dan King, Tim Raymus and Ben Fidler had gotten together to do a skit: “Cards on the Table.” They did that and I loved it. I’ve known Ben since we started. So we started writing and it clicked. When B.A. Comedian and Lawnboys got together it was an easy thing…it was awesome. So now we developed a new idea that features Mike Logan; we’re working on that.

CD: Are all the scripts Logan-centric, or are there others?

BS: Right now we’re still on the Logan idea. But we have another concept which Ben, Mike DiAlto and Tim Raymus developed, which is more of a TV series type thing. It’s kind of like 3 different stories…Ben, Mike, and Tim and all of their stories converge together. That should shoot the end of May. Another is “Simple Answers with Ben Fidler.” Those are two-minutes interviews that comics have with Ben, and you have to give honest answers to simple questions.

CD: Wrapping up: any other shows or showcases?

BS: We’re gonna start a monthly show here at L2. I think that’s also where Jess comes in, he does a great job with monthly shows. And I think Jess will take the wheel for those. As for the mic at L2—I think everybody’s having fun.

Chris Dolan is a comic who lives in the Philly burbs. Follow him on Twitter @CMDolan99. You can also see Chris host the Totally Free Comedy Showon June 8th at Nineteen19 in Havertown, PA.